Hopi Hari Theme Park 2011 - Brazil

[lucazferrazCBMR]

It's a pretty good park. Yes, it has a cable lift system that speeds the train up to about 30 miles and hour at the top.

[Fabio.Abrantes]

Now, I come bringing a very sad news, for us, and for the relatives of a girl of 14 years.

Today at 10:20 am a fatal accident occurred in the Intamin Giant Drop, the La Tour Eiffel, who killed a girl of 14 years, which dropped the accent, after the lock open. Follow the news:

 

 

Translation:

Hopi Hari: Police are investigating whether failure caused death of girl

 

Delegate is responsible for investigating accidents says witnesses saw toy hangs open, 14 year old fell from a height of 20 meters, suffered head trauma and died instantly

 

The Police Civil Vineyard, in São Paulo, investigates the death of a 14 year old amusement park Hopi Hari in Vineyard, in São Paulo, was caused by a failure of the ride she was riding. The girl collapsed this morning from a height of about 20 meters from La Tour Eiffel ride.

 

She suffered head injuries followed by cardiac arrest and now is dead at the hospital Paulo Sacramento, Jundiaí. The body will be taken to the Medical Legal Institute (IML) Jundiaí. In a statement, Hopir Hari said he regretted the incident and said it is assisting the victim's family and supporting research organizations. The ride will remain closed, but the park which closed after the accident, will open its doors this weekend, according to the press office.

 

At the beginning of tade, the chief Alvaro Ninety Santucci Jr., who investigates the death, was in the park. "I talked to the witnesses, and by all accounts, there is a real possibility of the system have failed and the chair locks have opened. Both witnesses said they saw the girl's body protruding in the middle of the braking process and the lock being opened, but what really happened will still be determined, "said the officer, who requested the direction of Hopi Hari CCTV footage of the park.

 

Other people who were on the scene said, earlier, she might have slipped without the lock was open. The investigators will determine the cause of the accident. "I think it would be very difficult for the body slipping under or over. I think she slipped almost impossible even if it was too thin," he said.

 

Testimonials - The police heard four witnesses on Friday. Three of them said they had seen the ride restraints open. Have those responsible for the park and staff provide testimony on Monday. He said the employee who operated the ride is in shock.

 

The first to testify was the office assistant Cathy Carmelia Damaceno of 30 years. She tested her husband, Cristiano Damaceno, two sons, a 10 year old girl and a boy of four years, and her mother. "I had just passed through the turnstile when the toy came up and looked up. At the time of braking, the lock opened and saw her falling. Only her chair was in the lock up," he told reporters after speaking with the chief.

 

"The noise of the blow was so strong, I was terrified."

 

The investigators collected bone fragments in place. Apparently, Santucci said, the maintenance of the park was in days. Investigators and technicians of the park were tested on the ride that the child was not open and lock. The equipment was shut down.

 

The ride - La Tour Eiffel, a replica of the famous tower in Paris, is one of the main attractions of the Hopi Hari. It consists of a lift height of 69.5 m, equivalent to a building of 23 floors. Seated and locked into a set of four chairs, users climb the tower and plunge into free fall for three seconds at a speed of 94 miles per hour.

 

source link: http://veja.abril.com.br/noticia/brasil/hopi-hari-policia-investiga-se-falha-causou-morte-de-menina

 

Video, in Portuguese:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ehA7L4a4Wc&feature=player_embedded

 

The Intamin has to be careful ... others have just occurred, and the case of Tower of Power! other parks in Brazil, which has rides the same manufacturer are concerned. Beto Carreiro World closed its Giant Drop 100 meters for safety.

forces to the park

Edited February 25, 2012 by larrygator

[joco07]

ohhhhh my, That's terrible! I'm beginning to think that these Drop Towers are not very safe anymore.....

[CardCraze]

That's terrible! I'm beginning to think that these Drop Towers are not very safe anymore.....

 

Theme parks, and any ride within them are generally speaking safer than a vast majority of other things you could do for entertainment. While rarely tragedies like this do happen, it does not make the ride "unsafe".

[CoasterKings908]

I'm confused. Can somebody help me understand this?

[robbalvey]

ohhhhh my, That's terrible! I'm beginning to think that these Drop Towers are not very safe anymore.....

Using that logic, don't ever get in a car again! Have you seen how many people die in cars EVERY SINGLE DAY?!?!?! They aren't safe!!!!

[buckaroo234]

I'm confused. Can somebody help me understand this?

 

Based on what im looking at is we have a case of the restraint unlocking (dont intamin second gens have seatbelts as a backup?) and a girl flying out.

[ILoveRides]

(dont intamin second gens have seatbelts as a backup?)

 

I've never ridden this one, but it appears from pictures that it didn't have seatbelts. The park index doesn't have a great picture of the restraints, but you can search "La Tour Eiffel Hopi Hari" on Google Images and it brings up several pics.

Edited February 25, 2012 by ILoveRides

[australianalex]

Looks like great park. Im hoping well get a new layout for the 10 inversion coaster but according to rcdb we may not. Would've been awesome if they'd decided to build a 12 inversion Intamin as seen on their website.

 

Also, sad to hear about the girl on the drop tower.

[lucazferrazCBMR]

Guys,

 

I'm a mechanical engineer and I've done maintenance before in an Intamin Drop Tower in aonther park in Brazil.

These restraints use gas pistons to lock. There are two independent pistons for each restraint. Once the seats reach the ground, the electrical conection touches the electrical source, powering the valves to open, releasing the gas and unlocking the restraints.

 

That means with the gondola out from the ground, the valves cannot open (they're closed by default) and therefore the restraint cannot unlock.

 

If both pistons fail, there a seatbelt connecting the restraint to the seat.

 

That said, you probably figured out already that in order to the restraint to open with ride moving, it is necessary that 3 safety systems fail.

 

I find it very unlike that all three systems have failed - even why I do know the maintenance at Hopi Hari and I do know that it is properly done in a daily basis.

 

So I go to the human fail. I believe the girl rode the ride with the restraint loose. She wanted to go upper from the seat when dropping. The error was the operator not checking it.

So, when the ride reached the breakes and slew down, she slept between the restraint and the seat (if the restraint was too high, she probably didn't buckle the seat belt either...

[Angry_Gumball]

As much as I had my near Drop Tower incident where we weren't locked. The restraints had some resistance to them plus the weight so therefore they felt like they were snug at first. As soon as I hear "clear 1, clear 2..." my friend noticed we weren't secure and shouted. Whether if it were going to dispatch is beyond me. I don't want to speculate or become a 'self proclaimed ride maintenance expert.' That following day, the infamous drop tower accident occurred (I'm sure you remember the 1999 accident).

 

Yes, this freaked me out as it was a bit too coincidental for my liking. I initially told myself that I won't go on that again after that scary 'first ride.' I was a total GP at the time as well (who believed that parks made rides and copied each other when a neighboring park has the same rides...but I digress.) At the time, I assumed that our incident and the kids indecent were related. With the stories of how the kid wriggled out throws up another mystery. Today, it remains a mystery and I continue to ride Drop Tower and remains one of my favorite non coaster rides in the park. Sure I still think of the incident and do a self check on my restraint as soon as they hit the lock button just to be safe. My friend however will no longer step foot into that queue and go for a ride (though I'm sure I can coax him into doing such).

 

So basically my point is that a my traumatic coincidental first experience with an Intamin tower has not prevented me from enjoying riding it including the same seat I was in that first time I rode and experienced what could have been a major hiccup.

[Kriskochanczyk1]

I think that this is the parks fault because they didn't check the seat belts.

[rafoga]

(dont intamin second gens have seatbelts as a backup?)

I've never ridden this one, but it appears from pictures that it didn't have seatbelts...you can search "La Tour Eiffel Hopi Hari" on Google Images and it brings up several pics.

(...)she probably didn't buckle the seat belt either(...)

Well, I have written a different post before but I am now editting... The video I posted before was filmed in 2007, when it really didn't have seatbelts. There are more recent videos that show belts. Thanks, andyuk.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWSQaW4J60U (2007)

(2010) Edited February 25, 2012 by rafoga

[andyuk200523]

Interesting, I was under the impression that Intamin retro-fitted all of the drop towers with seatbelts some years ago, maybe it wasn't compulsary....

 

My thoughts go out to the girls family, horrible horrible accident.

[lucazferrazCBMR]

This is an old video. The restraints are now black and they DO have seatbelts...

[GigaG]

As much as I had my near Drop Tower incident where we weren't locked. The restraints had some resistance to them plus the weight so therefore they felt like they were snug at first. As soon as I hear "clear 1, clear 2..." my friend noticed we weren't secure and shouted. Whether if it were going to dispatch is beyond me. I don't want to speculate or become a 'self proclaimed ride maintenance expert.' That following day, the infamous drop tower accident occurred (I'm sure you remember the 1999 accident).

 

Yes, this freaked me out as it was a bit too coincidental for my liking. I initially told myself that I won't go on that again after that scary 'first ride.' I was a total GP at the time as well (who believed that parks made rides and copied each other when a neighboring park has the same rides...but I digress.) At the time, I assumed that our incident and the kids indecent were related. With the stories of how the kid wriggled out throws up another mystery. Today, it remains a mystery and I continue to ride Drop Tower and remains one of my favorite non coaster rides in the park. Sure I still think of the incident and do a self check on my restraint as soon as they hit the lock button just to be safe. My friend however will no longer step foot into that queue and go for a ride (though I'm sure I can coax him into doing such).

 

So basically my point is that a my traumatic coincidental first experience with an Intamin tower has not prevented me from enjoying riding it including the same seat I was in that first time I rode and experienced what could have been a major hiccup.

 

The Great America incident where the young boy died?

[Geauga Dog]

So I go to the human fail. I believe the girl rode the ride with the restraint loose. She wanted to go upper from the seat when dropping. The error was the operator not checking it.

 

So, when the ride reached the breakes and slew down, she slept between the restraint and the seat (if the restraint was too high, she probably didn't buckle the seat belt either...

 

It has always been my thought that there were sensors on these rides that if the restraint wasn't properly closed the ride would not be able to run.

 

Sorry to hear this news.

[CardCraze]

I think that this is the parks fault because they didn't check the seat belts.

 

Based on what exactly, considering the cause is still under investigation...

[asimowalk]

It has always been my thought that there were sensors on these rides that if the restraint wasn't properly closed the ride would not be able to run.

 

Sorry to hear this news.

 

If she was an average sized 14 year old girl, and if there is a sensor on the restraint, the sensor would probably have a tolerance for a larger body so the restraint could have been up with enough room for her to slip out of it.

 

But I'm not going to speculate further. I just hope they can pinpoint the cause and move forward with it. I would hate to see no cause determined in the end like the Great America incident.

[lucazferrazCBMR]

If she was an average 14-years-old girl - She was Japanese. Japanese girls are usually skiny, I believe. Asian physical type is usually skiny, I believe.

 

Sensors: there are none. The ride go up and down with the restraints completely open if wanted.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I'm confused. Can somebody help me understand this?

 

Sounds like a restraint failure to me since witnesses report sseeing the restraint or "lock" in the open position but on this model don't all 4 seats in each car lock & unlock together so that if one fails they all would on the car in question?

 

Does this ride have the lap belts as is now standard on all the US installations?

[lucazferrazCBMR]

Sounds like a restraint failure to me since witnesses report sseeing the restraint or "lock" in the open position but on this model don't all 4 seats in each car lock & unlock together so that if one fails they all would on the car in question?

 

Does this ride have the lap belts as is now standard on all the US installations?

 

The ride op presses only one buttom to lock/unlock the restraints, but the system locks and unlocks each one of them individually, actually.

There are, in fact, 8 lock systems for each gondola: two independent systems for each seat.

 

Yes, the ride has lap belts between the passenger's legs conecting the OTSR to the seat.

[rafoga]

I've just seen the girl's mother being interviewed on Brazilian TV (Fantástico - TV Globo). She said that the girl's seat missed the belt (that connects the restraint to the seat). And also that she had asked her daughter to check wether the restraint was locked or not, and the girl had done it at that moment.

 

If it is really true, park maintenance can be blamed. But if it is so easy to be broken, maybe a more resistant belt should be developed by the manufacturer.

 

Well, the case is still under investigation.

[GigaG]

^Resistance is not likely - the belt buckles on Maverick are rated for a lot of force, and the belts themselves are rated less, but still are quite durable. And I don't think that the Giant Drop's belts would be much different, especially because these belts could be a newer addition and therefore may be stronger than Maverick's. However, Maverick has all that airtime that comes in sudden bursts, a loose restraint would flap all over the place and a seat belt would need to be strong. But still, I doubt the belt naturally broke. Maybe the belts themselves were in for maintenance?

[KDCOASTERFAN]

^Resistance is not likely - the belt buckles on Maverick are rated for a lot of force, and the belts themselves are rated less, but still are quite durable. And I don't think that the Giant Drop's belts would be much different, especially because these belts could be a newer addition and therefore may be stronger than Maverick's. However, Maverick has all that airtime that comes in sudden bursts, a loose restraint would flap all over the place and a seat belt would need to be strong. But still, I doubt the belt naturally broke. Maybe the belts themselves were in for maintenance?

 

When the belt policy first went into effect following the 99 incident at CGA all SFA did on their freefall was take used seatbelts from one of the old coaster cars & tied them at one end to the OTSR grip & somehow attached the other end to the seat bottom,talk about a cheap fix.